Carmelo Anthony was trying to defend his acquisition and instead supported the argument that the Knicks gave up too much to get him from Denver.

As if the numbers before the two teams met Saturday night didn't scream the Nuggets got the better of the deal thus far. The Knicks' regular-season record since the trade was 20-23. The Nuggets were 29-12.

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As if the numbers before the two teams met Saturday night didn't scream the Nuggets got the better of the deal thus far. The Knicks' regular-season record since the trade was 20-23. The Nuggets were 29-12.

"You can't compare our team to Denver's team," Anthony said. "They got five starters from that trade. Denver's a hell of a team. They're one of the deeper teams in the NBA right now."

The Knicks ultimately got the best player in the trade, probably the two best in Anthony and Chauncey Billups, who was waived right before camp through the amnesty provision to make room for Tyson Chandler.

But the Knicks lack depth and you can make a case that they only have three legitimate healthy NBA starters on their current roster -- Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire and Chandler.

And despite Anthony and Stoudemire saying they can coexist, they have not proven they can.

Rookie Iman Shumpert has had some impressive moments, but at this point probably should be more of a rotation player than a starting point guard. Landry Fields has posed little threat to opposing defenses as a starting shooting guard. His confidence also seems to be rattled, although he's looked better the last couple of games.

Guard play is only part of the reason the Knicks have struggled this season. But they miss a playmaking point guard who can score and set up his teammates, too.

They hope Baron Davis can be that player when he returns from a back injury. But there is a risk in putting so much into an injury-prone player in his 30s who said Friday that his back was bothering him so much when he joined the Knicks in December that he didn't think he'd be able to play basketball.

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Declining after the deal

Stoudemire and Fields have been the Knicks most affected statistically since the trade.

Stoudemire averaged 26.1 points, shot 50.7 percent, and took 19.4 shots per game before the trade. Since, he's taken 17.3 shots, made 46.7 percent of them and scored 21.6 points. (Not including Saturday).

Ainge told a story about late Celtics patriarch Red Auerbach having the chance to trade Bird and McHale late in their careers for talented young players and opting against it.

"If I were presented with those kind of deals for our aging veterans, it's a done deal to continue the success," Ainge told the Globe. "After those guys retired, the Celtics had a long drought. But those [trades] aren't presenting themselves. In today's day and age, with 30 teams in the NBA, 15 teams know they have no chance of winning a championship. They are building with young players. It's a different era that we live in."

Not many deals

The deadline for extending players from the 2008 NBA draft is Wednesday; only a handful of players will get deals.

No. 10 pick Brook Lopez won't be extended, either. The Nets might have if Lopez hadn't broken a bone in his foot in the preseason that will keep him out at least another month.

But the Nets can match any offers for Lopez when he's a restricted free agent this summer if he's still with them. They're offering him in a package for Dwight Howard, which may be another reason the Nets didn't extend Lopez. The Magic could be less interested if Lopez has a long-term deal at a relatively big number.

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